Beach Bungalow from Top Gun Hits the Market

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Beach Bungalow from Top Gun Hits the Market

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We all know the movie – fighter jets screaming through the sky; suave rebel Tom Cruise and his wisecracking buddy Anthony Michael Hall; and enough leather jackets and cool poses in Ray-Ban sunglasses to go around.

As the 1986 classic Top Gun celebrates its 25th anniversary, folks wanting to take a trip down memory lane and check out the settings for the iconic action film might be disappointed when they pull into Oceanside, California and check out the famous beachside bungalow featured in the movie.

The home – a cute and quaint 19th-century beach bungalow – was where Cruise’s character Maverick took co-star Kelly McGillis’s breath away. The home was originally built in 1887 and has been a rental unit for decades, including during the filming of Top Gun (McGillis actually lived in the home during production).

Now, it is a sad sight – boarded up, a little rough around the edges, and nowhere near the cozy and romantic cottage it was 25 years ago. In fact, if it weren’t for a $209 million beach resort project approved by the city of Oceanside, the home might have been torn down just like most of the others in its neighborhood.

What about other famous homes from other hit movies in the 1980’s and 1990’s? Have they fared any better?

Probably one of the more commonly-used movie homes is the famed Ennis House, a historic home from 1924 that was featured prominently in a who’s who of movies from this era, including:

- Blade Runner- Rush Hour- Buffy the Vampire Slayer- Black Rain- The Karate Kid III

It is holding up pretty well, and was just bought for a few million and is a historic site. Another movie home that’s doing pretty well (and better than the Top Gun home) is the two-story house featured in A Christmas Story.

If you haven’t seen this movie, it is highly recommended you do so immediately (after finishing reading, of course). The rest of us surely remember the home – the leg lamp; the backyard where Ralphie almost shot his eye out; and the kitchen ruined on Christmas day by a pack of dogs. Now it is a tourist attraction, bought for $150,000 on eBay in 2004 and right across the street from the official A Christmas Story museum.

It turns out that if you come across a house that was in a famous film, you are probably at least still standing. It is our hope that the Top Gun home is properly restored and cared for; if not, we know a few fighter pilots who might have something to say about that.